Jeremy Harris had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls in the season opener for both teams.

"We've got confidence as a team," Massinburg said. "We have confidence in ourselves, our coaches and our players, but we try not to get caught up in the hype because then you put added pressure on yourself that you really don't need."

It was the first time West Virginia (0-1) lost its home opener since a 91-84 defeat against Northeastern in 2003.

"They just beat us at our own game," coach Bob Huggins said. "We generally force more turnovers than we commit. They got us 19-11 there, and we generally are one of the premier rebounding teams in the country, and they got us there. We're not going to win."

Lamont West led West Virginia with 22 points and nine rebounds. James "Beetle" Bolden scored a career-high 21 but exited early with a possible cramp.

Buffalo had a 29-14 edge in offensive rebounds.

CJ Massinburg finished with 43 points in Buffalo's win against #13 West Virginia, the 2nd-most in school history.

43 points are the most a player has scored against West Virginia over the last 20 seasons. The last player to score 40+ was Andrew Wiggins in 2014. @UBmenshoops

BIG PICTURE

Buffalo: Stays on the road to face Southern Illinois, which just gave Kentucky a game in Lexington. The Bulls get more opportunities at major teams, too, with Syracuse and Marquette on the slate in December.

West Virginia: After dropping the opener, more mid-major powers like Valparaiso, Western Kentucky, Monmouth, UCF and Rhode Island as well as major teams Florida and Pitt are still on the horizon.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Buffalo: Could move into the Top 25 on Monday after receiving 14 votes in the preseason poll.

West Virginia: Might fall out of the rankings following the loss.

ELITE COMPANY

Massinburg set a school record for points in a road game. He joined Wisconsin's Ethan Happ, Fort Wayne's John Konchar and Mississippi State's Quinndary Weatherspoon as the only active players in the country to have more than 1,300 career points.

HUSTLE AND FLOW

Buffalo scored 23 points off 19 Mountaineers turnovers.

"I told (Massinburg) halfway through the second half, 'We're not going to win this game by outshooting them. Obviously, that ain't happening,'" Oats said. "Let's figure out another way. We're going to have to win it on defense and get some easy buckets in transition and grind out some stops and get some offensive-board putbacks."

West Virginia scored 16 points off 11 Bulls turnovers in its first game without former defensive stars Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr.